New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-01-05
MORE R1ILROAD CREM1TTON.

Two serious railroad accidents were reported
yesterday. The most disastrous was that on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, an It APP
pears to have been casei either by ms -inder-
standing or disotedicnce of orders. The west
bonnd passenger express came into collision
with an east-bOund freight train. and the two
trains were so close together when the en-
gneers saw the danger that their speed was
scarcely checked when they crashed together.
Under any circumstances such collision must
have been destructive to life, but here the in
cvitabc hot stoves came into play with the
usual effect. the wreck was set on fire, and the
passengers who were cntangled in it and were
too badly hurt to help themselves were burned
to DEATH In the smashup on the Boston and
Albany. a broken axle which threw one OF the
cars off the track, and against another tram
on an adjoining track, is said to have been the
melting cause. In this instance ais" the wreck
caught fire from the stoves. and 1T Is reported
that at least one passenger was burned to
death.
1t cannot perhaps be expected that even the
utmost available prccantiOn on the part OF
railroad managers will ever entirely remove
the danger arising from the carclcssncss or
lack of intelligence If employees. In winter
when delays from bad weather constantly hap
pen, engineers and conductors arc urged 10
make Mp lost time ut every opportunity, and as
such DELAYS derange the schedule, OF course
unusual caution ought always to be exercised
at these times. In fact, it rs to be feared that
the tranmen are rather disposed 10 take extra
risks for the sake of getting in on time. but
no engineer or conductor should DC permitted
10 incur such risks moro than once. Collisions
between trains going at full speed must lie
disastrous. but it cannot TO necessary that
cremation should be added to all the other
horrors of such situation. The railroad cor
poralons indeed might be thought to hold
that there was no way OF avoiding tins crown
ing danger, for though tho burning alive OF
passengers has been going on for over gen
Grafton no serious attempt has yet been made
TO prevent it. As cars are at present arranged
it is almost impossible that all the passengers
can escape in collision. especially if 1t occurs
at night. Some of them are sure 10 bc held
down by the wreck. and as the stoves lnvar-
ably scatter their rcd-hot contents among the
dry wood which surrounds them, coniilgra-
ton springs up Immediately. and the helpless
and wounded suffer the most painful OF deaths.
This has happened so often that the non
existence OF some Legislative protection for the
public is dlscredt TO the lawmakers every
where The allegation that il is impossible
to heat railroad cars In any other way than
that which renders every passenger liable to
be roasted alive cannot tc seriously enter
tanned 1t is the plain duty Of the conn anicS
to find out a safe and effective mode Of heating
the cars. and if they are not sufficiently stun
ulatcd TO the performance OF this duty by their
own interests or by their conscicnuousncSS,
they should lie given a further incentive to
action in the shape Of statutory mandates en-
forced with appropriate penalties II is prob
able that steam heating for railroad cars is
entirely practicable. as il il on the elevated
railways of this city. But whether that he so
or not il is not 10 bc believed that the prooicih
is nsolublc. and the American people have
right to insist that it shall Lc solved forthwith.
at Whatever cost or pans. Ii ~ not credit
able 10 the general intelligence that what is
really an abuse Of the most serious character
should be tolerated year after year. though The
disastrous effects of this apathy arc felt nj
short intervals in catastrophcs which dcsola'c
homes and shock the whole civilized world
with records Of needless torment and agony
II NAV not be possible 10 prevent railroad ac
cidcnts, hut railroad cremation can certainly
bc put an end to.